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6.77.78.79.Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse with Background in Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Seven Seals and the Apocalypses in the Synoptic Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Possible Interrelationships Among the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Biblical Lists of the Twelve Tribes of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Trumpet and Bowl Judgments Compared to the Egyptian Plagues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Vice Lists in Revelation Correlated to the Ten Commandments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Identification of the Two Witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Time Periods of Persecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Fall of Satan in Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Calculating the Number of the Beast (Gematria) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Two Marks of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Thematic Parallels Between the Beast of Revelation and the Beasts of Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Portrait of the Beast in Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Rise and Demise of the Evil Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Worship of the Emperor—the Beast of Revelation 13:4—Contrasted with Divine Worship . . . 91Four Høde ( Wde “Here”) Sayings of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Paired Angelic Revelations in Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Historical Identification of the Seven Emperors (Rev. 17:9–11) in Relationship to theTwelve Caesars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Trading Products of Revelation 18 in Relationship to Tyre and Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Last Battle in Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Messiah as an Eschatological Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Interpretations of the 1,000 Years from Revelation 20:1–6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Lists of Jewels in Antiquity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Paradise Motifs in Revelation and the Prophets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Death and Resurrection in Revelation 19–22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Architectural Features of the New Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Literary Parallels Between Revelation’s Prologue and Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Benedictions in the New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Thematic Parallels Between Genesis 1–3 and Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Textual Evidence for Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Canonical History of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Seven Churches Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Map of Roman Province of Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Map of Imperial Cult Temples of Asia Minor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Map of the Myth of Nero Redivivus, or Nero Redux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Map of Rome: City of Seven Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Map of Trade in the Roman Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Commentary and Sources Consulted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1318

PrefaceWhile working on this volume, I mentioned to friends and colleagues that I was preparing a book ofcharts on Revelation. Invariably I detected an unspoken reaction like, “Just what we need, anotherbook of charts on Revelation.” This volume, however, should prove different from other charts books that haveappeared. For years commentators have developed charts to illustrate their reading of Revelation, which wasusually from a dispensational and futurist perspective. From my earliest days as a Christian, some thirty-twoyears ago, I recall seeing large wall charts that displayed the chronology of last-days events supposedly depictedin Revelation and Daniel.In the latter part of the twentieth century, new methods of reading the text have opened fresh perspectivesfor examining Revelation. Literary readings particularly have examined the complex intertextuality andintratextuality of the book. From my perspective, Revelation is one of the most extraordinary documents everwritten, with new levels awaiting discovery on each reading. For these reasons, of all the books of the Bible,Revelation lends itself best to visualization in charts.The format used in most contemporary commentaries, though, lends little room for charts. For example,Osborne in his 869-page commentary has only three charts (pp. 233, 340, 757), and the first is related to theGospels rather than Revelation. Beale offers eight charts in the introduction (pp. 70–71, 73–75, 90–91, 106,107, 119, 128, 134–35), but only four (pp. 809–10, 874, 992, 1005) in the rest of his 1,245-page commentary.For a new generation of students who are primarily visual learners, charts are an important pedagogical tool.Information that might take pages of text to explain can be distilled into an easily comprehensible chart. Otherbooks of charts with limited material on Revelation include H. Wayne House and Randall Price’s Charts ofBible Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), H. Wayne House’s Chronological and Background Charts ofthe New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), and Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993).Many of the charts in this volume were initially developed during my doctoral research, and some werefirst published in my doctoral thesis accepted at the University of South Africa in 1996. Other charts wereprepared by me for various writing projects or for presentation in church or seminary lectures. One distinctiveof these charts is that the material in Revelation is primary and thus usually listed first, with Old Testamentand extrabiblical literature secondary. This arrangement helps to underscore the hermeneutical principlethat any context must be interpreted through the primary text of Revelation. Breaking the verses down intosections of a, b, c, etc., has been avoided within the charts as much as possible. Usually the applicable portionof the verse in question is evident. For chart 32, however, “Structure of the Seven Letters in Revelation 2–3,”more detailed verse breakdowns were unavoidable. Notes related to each chart, with abbreviated bibliographicreferences, appear after the charts. A full bibliography concludes the book.I thank my wife, Dindy, for her patient editorial work in verifying many of the references in the volume.I also thank Jim Weaver and Dennis Hillman of Kregel Publications for their patience with the manuscript,which was delivered long past its promised date. Tim Dowley did an excellent job in preparing the maps fromthe material that I supplied. I especially want to dedicate this volume to my former students at Oral RobertsUniversity, Regent University, and Fuller Seminary Northwest, who have studied Revelation with me and havegiven me valuable feedback on the charts.9

AbbreviationsAncient and Extrabiblical Sources1 Clem.1 En.2 Macc.3 Macc.5QNJAdv. Haer.Adv. Marc.Ann.Ant.Bar.Carm. Saec.Dial.Dom.Ep.Epig.Gen. litt.Hist.Hist. eccl.IGRJ.W.Nat.NeroOCDOGISOr.Pss. Sol.Sat.SIG3Silv.Sir.Tob.Trist.Wis.1 Clement (The Apostolic Fathers)1 Enoch (OT Pseudepigrapha)2 Maccabees (OT Apocrypha)3 Maccabees (OT Apocrypha)Dead Sea Scroll (5Q New Jerusalem)Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies)Tertullian, Adversus Marcion (Against Marcion)Tacitus, AnnalsJosephus, Antiquities of the JewsBaruch (OT Apocrypha)Horace, Carmen SaeculareJustin, Dialogue with TryphoSuetonius, DomitianAugustine, EpistlesMartial, EpigramsAugustine, De Genesi ad LitteramTacitus, HistoriaeEusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History)Inscriptiones Graecae ad Res Romanas PertinentesJosephus, Jewish WarPliny, Natural HistorySuetonius, NeroOxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1996)Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones SelectaeDio Chrysostom, OrationsPsalms of Solomon (OT Pseudepigrapha)Juvenal, SatiresW. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 3rd ed. (1915–1924)Statius, SilvaeSirach/Ecclesiasticus (OT Apocrypha)Tobit (OT Apocrypha)Ovid, TristiaWisdom of Solomon (OT Apocrypha)Bible Versions and TranslationskjvLXXMTnivnkjvnltnrsvNTOTKing James VersionSeptuagintMasoretic TextNew International VersionNew King James VersionNew Living TranslationNew Revised Standard VersionNew TestamentOld Testament11

rebUBS3UBS412Revised English BibleThe Greek New Testament, 3rd ed. United Bible SocietiesThe Greek New Testament, 4th ed. United Bible Societies

John the ApostleProConPatristic testimony: Justin, Papias, Melito, Irenaeus,Origen, Tertullian, and Hippolytus affirm apostolicauthorship of Rev.Marcion, Dionysius, and Alogoi testify against apostolicauthorshipApocryphal Acts of John (88–90) portrays apostle asministering among seven churchesPapias (Hist. eccl. 3.39.4–6) speaks of two Johns whosetombs are in EphesusGnostic Apocryphon of John identifies Apocalyptist asbrother of James and son of ZebedeeLack of apostolic claim: absence of explicit identificationas son of Zebedee, beloved disciple, or elderMuratorian Canon (late 2nd c.) identifies author of Rev.with author of fourth gospelStylistic differences: grammatical solecisms in Greektext contrast with accurate and clear text of fourthgospelApocalypse and fourth gospel share some commonideas, theology, and terminologyTheological differences—theology, Christology, andeschatology—are too distinct between Rev., fourthgospel, and 1 JohnLike the other apostles Paul (Rom. 1:1; Titus 1:1), James(James 1:1), and Peter (2 Peter 1:1), Apocalyptist callshimself a servant in the book’s introduction (1:1; cf.22:9)Apocalyptist regards himself as a prophet, calling hiswork a prophecy six times (1:3; 19:10; 22:7, 10, 18, 19)Ephesian church tested so-called apostles (2:2) andfound them false, so must have judged John to be a trueapostleTwelve apostles spoken of as past figures in 21:14, sounlikely that Apocalyptist was the son of ZebedeeEpistolary greeting “Grace and peace” (1:4) is apostolicand opens all Pauline letters as well as 1 & 2 PeterAged apostle would be too old to produce virileimaginativeness of the ApocalypseCharts on the Book of Revelation1. Authorship of RevelationEpistolary closing “The grace” in 22:21 is apostolic andcloses every Pauline letterRev. to be read publicly (1:3), which is similar to Paul’sinjunction to have his letters read publicly (1 Thess. 5:27;Col. 4:16; 1 Tim. 4:13) and suggests apostolic authorityand inspirationJohn the ElderProConPapias (Hist. eccl. 3.39.4–5) speaks of two Johns: adisciple and an elderEusebius misunderstood Papias’s distinction betweenthe elder and apostleDionysius (cf. Hist. eccl. 3.39.6) states there were twoJohns and two tombs in Ephesus, both tombs calledJohn’sDionysius’s comment based on a traveler’s report, andhis suggestion is only tentativePapias (Hist. eccl. 3.39.6–7) says he actually heard theelder John, so Eusebius says it is probable that it was thisJohn who “saw” Rev.Inconclusive that John the elder ever existedJohn the elder known to Ephesian community throughhis lettersEarly church mistaken in belief that apostle lived inEphesus because presence of two Johns would havecaused confusion13

Charts on the Book of Revelation142. Date of RevelationEvidenceEarly Date (ca. a.d. 69)Late Date (ca. a.d. 95)Christian literaryevidenceDomitian ruled eleven months in Romeuntil his father Vespasian returned fromthe Jewish War; perhaps Irenaeus, wrong onother dates, got the evidence confusedFirm tradition in Irenaeus (Adv. Haer.5.30.3): “Seen not long ago, but almost in ourown day, at the close of the principate [reign]of Domitian”Church situationGalatians quickly deserted (Gal. 1:6) andPaul’s companions shipwrecked in theirfaith (1 Tim. 1:19), so period needed fordecline can be briefDecline takes time: Ephesus has lost first love;Sardis is dead and Laodicea is now lukewarm;rise of Nicolaitan party shows time lapseHistorical situation60s a turbulent time in Roman Empire withNero’s suicide and year of four emperorsReign of terror begins against Domitian’senemies in a.d. 93Persecution byDomitianNo literary evidence exists for Domitianpersecuting Christians; he killed onlypresumed political opponentsEusebius (Hist. eccl. 3.17–20) calls Domitiana second Nero, who persecuted and martyredChristiansFood sacrificed toidols (2:14, 20)Problematic “hot” issue among severalchurches in AsiaIssue appears resolved with only briefmention in Didache (6.3) and not mentionedby IgnatiusAsian earthquake inLaodicea refused aid from Rome because ofcivic independence; her wealth enables cityto begin rebuilding right awayDevastation of earthquake at Laodicearequired decades to restore city to formergrandeurGreat Tribulation(7:9–14)Fiercest persecution of Christians occurredunder Nero after Rome’s fire of 64; Tacitus(Ann. 15.44) and Clement (1 Clem. 6:1)speak of “great multitudes” of ChristiansdyingAsian persecution limited only to Antipasin Pergamum; expectation of greaterpersecution suggests later periodTemple in Jerusalem(11:1–2)That the temple can be measured suggests itis still standingReference to temple is from an earlier sourceincorporated into the visionPolitical situation(13:1–8)Beast need not refer to Domitian but couldrefer to earlier Caesar (Nero)Beast depicts Caesar’s (Domitian’s) successfulwar against saints and his worship by allearth dwellersNe

Professor of New Testament Interpretation Asbury Theological Seminary Author of Revelation in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary series “Charts on the Book of Revelation is a useful tool for teachers and a helpful guide for students to many complex and disputed is